You know I belong to a generation ( Dinosaur period ) where, we jotted down dates on the “Calender” and remembered birthdays of friends, family members and relatives (religiously) and posted greeting cards to them, if they lived abroad, atleast 10 days in advance (postal journey time)

If they stayed in the same city, then “REAL” efforts were made to call them, make them feel special, buy a pretty gift along with a greeting card for them. Things were really simple. Brands were really not something, people thought too much about. Its the thought that matters – is the ideology, I was bought up on.

We had never even heard of Teachers day. Fathers day and Mothers day were the only ‘special days’ we were acquainted with.

I remember, I was in Grade 8, mid 1980s, when one of my friends, who had just returned from holidays in USA, got me a sticker set of fruits which when rubbed, gave off the whiff of bananas, grapes, oranges and lemon and a greeting card for Valentines day.

Valentines day was unheard of in those days, in Kuwait.

Naturally, not having Google around – meant we got ALL our information from books.

I don’t ever remember reading about any valentines day occasion anywhere, but the concept seemed interesting. Especially since we were at an impressionable age where every “long gaze” from the opposite sex, was considered as a ‘crush’ 🙂

Valentines day just gave us all, school-goers, an excuse to share our feelings with our friends. Those were also the days of silly slam books !! Did you have those ?

Truly, those were simple days. Innocent times with no complications like today.

Fast forward to 2019, I find all these barrage of ‘special days’ just a waste. These are reduced to just occasions glorified by the Hallmark -kinda -industries to capitalize on !

There is a long queue of these willy-nilly day declaring including some like, World television day, International day of happiness, World toilet day – Its bizarre due to the fact that more than two billion people don’t have access to proper sanitation.

Having said that, i strongly support any month or day, which brings about awareness of any disease or disorder or mental health state. I have always been an avid supporter for the Breast Cancer month & Autism awareness month

However, I don’t think, we really need a special day to remind our loved ones, how precious they are, how much we value them. My husband taught me, It should be a gesture we provide in our every day-to-day life.

After a recent exhibition, we returned home totally exhausted. I was bone tired and slumped on the couch, barely able to raise my feet. It took two long days of arduous efforts in setting up and dismantling, not one but two stalls for the exhibition.

We decided to leave all the supplies and exhibition material in the car and off load it the following day. I knew all the boys were drained as well hence two of them hit the sack as soon as we got home, but one of my sons, decided to take the reins in his hands and managed to quietly offload the entire load out of the car, all by himself !!

Not only that, he also fed all 11 of our cats – while I was barely cooling off my heals and wondering how I would walk to the kitchen to feed the cats !! These are those little acts of thoughtfulness that carry the reward of mountains in them.

Needless to say, when I did finally pluck myself off the couch from my trans-like zombie state, i realized what he had done for us. I showered him with hugs and my blessings when I found out, how much he went above and beyond the call the duty.

These are things that leave a mark. These are little acts that speak louder than any wrapped up gift.

Coming back to today’s post. . .

For those of you, who may be looking for Valentines day, decor ideas, here’s a small happy and romantic mantle decor which I put together.

All the elements on the table are handmade, except the cages, flower pot and white candle stand.

You can find the links to the tutorial of the above diy projects below :-

Naush Samama

Welcome to my blog

So glad your here. My name is Naush & this is where I showcase my creative chaos

I am an eco-friendly visual artist and upcycle crafter, better known for the use of unconventional materials in my artwork, including the use of wire, wood, cardboard, cement, fabric, plastic and paper. I live in Dubai with my husband, three teenage sons and nine cats, all of whom will vouch for my messy craft room and nocturnal life. I thrive on coffee and crafts and I am a self-confessed borderline craft-supplies-hoarder who believes that a little creativity with some paint and a glue gun can do wonders with any mundane object.